But Secretary of State John Kerry said in Abu Dhabi that both he and the president would like to see progress against the Islamic State “go faster”.
Advertisement
Kerry says Obama is asking everyone in his government to offer new ideas to eliminate IS.
The Obama administration and European and Arab allies are seeking to peel Russian Federation away from its alliance with the Iranian regime, a partnership that has bolstered Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, the Wall Street Journal reports quoting senior US diplomats involved in efforts to end Syria’s conflict. On the other hand, officials in Paris likely would have said the same thing the day before those attacks.
At the White House, spokesman Josh Earnest said the US may step up efforts supporting strategies believed to be working – airstrikes and train-and-assist missions in Syria and Iraq – but he played down the possibility of any surge of new American resources into the fight.
The attack by four A-10 attack planes and two AC-130 gunships was carried out Saturday at a site near Deir el-Zour and al-Hasakah but not reported until Monday.
“The key is to destroy Daesh rapidly in Syria and in Iraq”, Kerry said, using an alternative term for the Islamic State. Army Col. Steve Warren, a US military spokesman in Baghdad, said in an email exchange that the vehicles were oil tanker trucks and that the attack was part of the broader oil targeting campaign. I want to thank them for the privilege of visiting this remarkable mosque, the bin Zayed Mosque, the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, which is one of the great mosques of the world, and for my money one of the truly most lovely mosques that I’ve had the privilege of visiting.
“Not only because the devil is in the details, but because we are talking about regional powers that don’t see eye-to-eye and you are talking about multiple factions that are going to fight until the end”, he said.
“We have to cut off this notion of success”, he said, by which IS “gets a cheapie: Someone who already is a terrorist does something in their name”. The hopes are to get talks moving toward a political transition in Syria that eventually would unseat Assad. For one, the plan doesn’t say when Assad might leave power.
These would exclude the Islamic State jihadist group and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front.
The meeting was also attended by Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ali Mohammad Hammad Al Shamsi, Deputy Secretary-General of the Supreme National Security Council, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority (EAA), Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the United States, Mohammed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, Undersecretary of the Court of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Barbara A. Leaf, Ambassador of the United States to the UAE, and a number of officials.
Advertisement
Kerry sought a middle line.
